A variety show or a musical are examples of artistic forms that have had a strong impact on western culture’s collective imagination. They are usually put under the category of “entertainment”, due to a certain cultural but also political heritage which reflects an ideological structuring of the occupation and division of time (the time for entertainment/the time for work; the time for pleasure/the time for duty). Entertainment, according to this point of view, is the “good” part of the equation, a happiness pill that we can take in order to lessen the obligations and burdens of life.

This project started about 4 years ago when I was invited to do a project in England, where showbiz and entertainment culture are profoundly rooted in the artistic identity of the country. At this time, we in Portugal, were at the peak of the financial crisis that had fallen upon us. It was a difficult moment and it was necessary to find a way out. The illusion machine that entertainment creates, I felt was the perfect motif to question the paradox of the world that we live in; the assumption of a difficult reality and the idealisation of a better world. The commercial exploitation of our happiness and sadness.

In the initial research, I discovered a song called “Happy Days Are Here Again” which in some ways, became the backdrop of our work. The song was written in 1929 by Milton Ager and was featured in Charles Reisner’s 1930’s movie “Chasing Rainbows”. The film was set during the Great Depression in America, and it became a symbol of hope; that despite everything, hope was needed to believe that something else was still possible. Then, as now.

Miguel Pereira

Ficha Artística

Creator and Director

Miguel Pereira

Cast

Sofie Burgoyne, António Onio

Featuring/Extras - Maria Matos Teatro Municipal

Ana Paula Gusmão, Beatriz Pires, Camilla Morello, Diogo Cadete, Helena Dawin, Inês Cartaxo, Jessica Guez, Luís Odriozola, Maria Matos, Mafalda Ferraz, Naieem Coutinho, Rute HugmeNow, Sara Montano, Sara Palácios, Valentina Parravicini and Vitória Grilo

 

Featuring/Extras - festival DDD/Palácio do Bolhão

Ana Esteves Brandão, Catarina da Silva, Catarina Marcos, Catarina Saraiva, Diogo Cadete, Filipa Raquel, Gabriela Marcos Souza, Inês Maria Garrido, Inês Marques, Isabel Vale, Liliana Costa, Luís Duarte Moreira, Luís Silva Barreto, Pedro Couto, Soraia Gurgo

Assistant

Pietro Romani

 

Music

Milton Ager, Leonard Bernstein, Ígor Stravinski, Tchaikovsky

 

Sound Editing and Arrangements

Miguel Feraso Cabral

Lighting Design

Eduardo Abdala

Collaboration (Scenic Space and Costumes)

André Guedes

Production

O Rumo do Fumo

Co-production

Maria Matos Teatro Municipal / in the framework of the network Create to Connect with support from the European Commission and Teatro Municipal do Porto / Festival DDD – Dias da Dança

Artistic Residency

Teatro Maria Matos – Estúdio Tobis

Support

Dance 4 (Nottingham), National Lottery / Arts Council England (1st stage of the project), EGEAC, Companhia Nacional de Bailado, Teatro Nacional D.Maria II and Australian Embassy 

 

Acknowledgment

Nuno Lucas and António Júlio